saq denotes cloth worn in mourning, fasting, or distress, and also a bag or covering made from such material.

The term most often denotes clothing put on, girded around the waist, or spread out in settings of mourning, fasting, distress, and appeal. A smaller cluster uses it for bags holding provisions, grain, fodder, or money; a few verses show the material as a covering or work object outside the usual mourning setting.

1. Mourning or fasting clothing · dominant

   In Genesis 37:34, the singular form is put on Jacob's loins as he mourns his son; in Jonah 3:5, plural forms are put on alongside a fast. In Jeremiah 4:8 and Joel 1:13, the APB renders commands to gird it on together with mourning and wailing, while Daniel 9:3 places it with prayer, supplications, fasting, and ashes.

   Genesis 37:34Jonah 3:5Jeremiah 4:8Joel 1:13Daniel 9:3Esther 4:1
2. Bag or sack for carrying contents · occasional

   In Genesis 42:25, the construct singular occurs where grain is put into sacks and silver is returned to each man's sack. Genesis 42:27 describes opening a sack to give fodder to a donkey, and Joshua 9:4 has old plural sacks for donkeys among the travelers' provisions.

   Genesis 42:25Genesis 42:27Genesis 42:35Joshua 9:4
3. Cloth as a spread, covering, or work object · rare

   In 2 Samuel 21:10, Rizpah spreads the singular form out for herself on a rock. Leviticus 11:32 includes it among objects used for work, and Isaiah 50:3 uses it in the clause where the heavens are given a covering.

   2 Samuel 21:10Leviticus 11:32Isaiah 50:3

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly presents the term as "sackcloth" in clauses about putting it on, girding it, covering oneself, or mourning, while Genesis 42:25 and Genesis 42:27 present it as a "sack" holding goods. These English renderings are read alongside the noun's clause context rather than treated as exhaustive definitions.